Some Things are Difficult to Repress
by Altberry
Summary: Both Phoenix and Miles start to restore the friendship they once had when they were children, but what happens when getting too close causes it all to fall apart? Takes place right after GS3/ Trials and Tribulations but spoilers for all 4 games.


**Fic: Some Things are Hard to Repress [1/?]**

Summary: Both Phoenix and Miles start to restore the friendship they once had when they were children, but what happens when getting too close causes it all to fall apart? Takes place right after GS3/ Trials and Tribulations but spoilers for all 4 games.

Warnings: Some sexual innuendo and vulgar words. Hints of M/ M. Rated T for mature themes and some language.

A/Note: This is my first fic written for a prompt, but as an extra challenge I tried to keep it as close as I could to the actual AA Timeline as possible.. to make it more of a "maybe this is what really happened?" sort of thing. Hope you enjoy and any R&R is appreciated! Posting it here to get some inspiration for a long overdue update!

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><p>.<p>

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><p>Phoenix Wright had just wrapped up a very long and exhausting trial that brought back parts of his past that he would've rather forgotten altogether- parts about his own naivety in college, parts about Mia and Dollie, and parts that reminded him that he wasn't a child anymore. However much he didn't want to admit it, he knew that part of him would always feel partly responsible for what he put Maya and Pearls through at Hazakura Temple. The case of Elise Deauxnim had certainly been the toughest yet, and although it was over, he could feel that Prosecutor Godot's, or rather, Diego's words still rang with some threads of truth; he was at fault for quite a few things, even if none of it had been intentional. He finally swallowed his personal unease back down for more pressing matters; he had always been good at bluffing. "Detective Gumshoe."<p>

"Yeah, what is it, pal?"

"Could you guys go on ahead?" Nick scratched the back of his head and gave the fellow detective a sheepish grin.

Detective Gumshoe was sullen, "But.. but what about you?" He had just invited Mr. Wright out for a fancy lunch at Tres Bien- even if his wallet was a little on the empty side, he couldn't pass up a chance to treat his good pal and celebrate another hard-earned victory.

"Maya and I will join you guys once we find Pearls."

The little girl had run off, but Phoenix had a feeling he knew where she had disappeared to, so he wasn't terribly worried, but he couldn't find it in his heart to leave her behind and also figured that once they found her, Maya would be more at ease. It was then that Phoenix noticed the dejected look on Gumshoe's face and quickly added, "don't worry about us! We may be a little late.. but we'll definitely be there."

"Don't keep us waiting, Wright," Edgeworth quipped. It seemed like everyone was invited- was Gumshoe really going to take the tab? Phoenix inwardly chuckled, but regardless of if he had to end up paying, he was secretly looking forward to getting his mind off of everything that had recently happened.

"We wont."

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><p>It turned out that the men did not end up going to Tres Bien that night. The Feys remained back at Hazakura to take part in a ritual for Misty Fey,and Franziska said something about alcohol consumption being foolish. Maggey also wasn't waitressing that night- she had unexpectedly given Gumshoe a call to apologize for a mixup in her schedule. With a bit of persuading from Wright, the men decided that a pub was the perfect place to kick back.<p>

So there they unwound: two of them were enjoying a beer but were not quite buzzed yet, and the third simply occupied himself with a glass of lemon water. Whereas the other two were quite at ease, Miles seemed to be quite unsettled in such a loud and gaudy venue, and was having some difficulty relaxing. However, the three of them toasted to a well-ended trial and beckoned a server for another round of drinks. It only made matters worse for Edgeworth when their waitress approached and began to hit on him.

"Any food for tonight, boys?" the woman addressed the table but gasped when she glanced over in Miles' direction, "Oh! I know you! You're that _Demon Prosecutor_ that's in all the papers!"

Miles flinched, "I'd prefer it if you didn't use that term."

"The name's Ann O'Ying, and don't be shy, honey," her voice went unnaturally breathless as she eyed him, "I am sure, that with your looks, it must be because you're a.." she cooed, "a real _Demon_ in the bedroom."

"WHAT?"

Phoenix smirked deviously, and tried his best to suppress a laugh, "I hear some say he is."

"Wright," Miles muttered, trying his hardest not to show his frustration, "You are completely out of order!"

_God, Edgeworth, lighten up. You're too easy to tease. _As much as Phoenix liked to see Miles squirm, he inherently picked up on the other man's immense discomfort, and decided not to take the joke further, "But we'll save his sweet loving for later. Right now we'll just have another round, thanks."

She seemed slightly irritated when Wright intervened; she very likely wanted a chance to cajole Miles Edgeworth into offering her some of that (so called) sweet loving.

"That'll be all, Miss O'Ying," the blue suited lawyer stared her down, fully unperturbed.

The woman took her cue and sauntered away. Uneasiness left the table, and it was then that Miles picked up and swigged back Gumshoe's drink. Phoenix wasn't sure if it was really just the bitterness of the brew that made the other man shudder.

"Ease up on my Guinness, pal!" Dick huffed over at Mr. Edgeworth, to which he got a spatter of a response from Phoenix. Until that moment, it had never occurred to Phoenix that Miles could very well drink anything other than fine wine, and he nearly choked at the thought of the prosecutor as a partying alcoholic.

Miles shot a glare across the table at the fellow attorney before turning his head aside to Gumshoe, "I'll enjoy my alcohol however I please, detective."

"Yeah," Phoenix interjected before Gumshoe could say anything about it actually not being his alcohol, "just like his humor… _dry_."

"Wright," Miles looked pointedly, "I'll have you kno-"

"Objection!" Phoenix slammed his fists down on the table in mock-trail fashion, startling the other two and almost causing Gumshoe to knock over his glass, "Enough with the seriousness, Edgeworth. So far, you've been nothing but a tight-ass all evening."

"I-I beg your pardon?" Edgeworth cracked through narrow lips. "Hold it, Wright, we're not in court!"

"That's exactly why you shouldn't be so uptight," Phoenix sat, his expression plastered with the confident grin that he always gave when he had the upper hand, "You can't even take a joke! What's with you having to be a stick-in-the-mud?"

Edgeworth moved his lips to retort. Phoenix cut him off with an ingenious idea.

"Beer Poker."

"That's ludicrous, Wright! I'm driving!"

"Take a taxi for once! You just declining because you want to save yourself the embarrassment of knowing I'd totally clean the floor with you like I do in court!"

Miles sighed and Gumshoe buckled further as he listened to the two bicker. The gruff man gave a desperate, big-eyed look to the defense attorney and pined, "Pal, my.. my paycheque…"

Phoenix Wright looked as smug as ever, "That's why you'll be the dealer, detective. Since Edgeworth has no qualms about how he's so entitled to drink, it should be fine for me to beat him round after round, after round, after round, aft-"

"I accept your blasted challenge," Edgeworth cracked a little too quickly, "and I have every intention of wiping that moronic look off of your face."

_Yep. Same old prideful Edgeworth._

Knowing that the tab would no longer be on him, a heavy sigh of relief came from the raggedy man between the two rivals, and although his voice was still a bit uneasy, he called the waitress over to ask her for a deck of cards and another round.

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><p>Needless to say, Phoenix Wright had successfully gotten Edgeworth hammered and therefore declared himself the ultimate Ace Poker Champion. However, he and Gumshoe now unexpectedly had to deal with Edgeworth's drunken, albeit amusing, ramblings. Though, it was kind of nice having just the guys together, Phoenix thought. He figured that the only one who could've completed the picture further was Larry, but either way it was pleasant to have Edgeworth join him after so long.<p>

"You're just good at bluffing, Wright. You got another lucky break, like when you p-practically threw yourself into that river!" Miles voice surprisingly only slightly slurred as he wagged a finger at the defense attorney. It was amazing that even while trashed he seemed to choose his words carefully, and he delivered them with as much composure as he did when sober.

Phoenix gave a chuckle, and Dick Gumshoe puffed with amusement at the half-slumped-over man before glancing at Phoenix's watch.

"Hey, Pal," Gumshoe made a gesture to excuse himself, "I'm gonna head out, if you don't mind. It's getting late and the force wants me in by noon tomorrow. It's a Saturday, but they said they'd have free weenies for lunch!"

Edgeworth was too out of it to reply properly; Phoenix nodded for the both of them.

"You take care of Mr. Edgeworth, won't you, Mr. Wright? Make sure he gets home safely," the older man heaved with hearty laughter, and Phoenix nodded again.

The defense attorney didn't have much too much to drink, so he figured the Detective was just making sure he was leaving his pal in safe, sober hands. As Gumshoe took his leave, Phoenix craned around to bid his friend goodbye, and when the detective was out of sight, then diverted his attention back to the other lawyer.

"You seem to like to cheat fate, Wright," Miles half-drawled as soon as he had the other man's attention again, "Escaping that fall with only a fever? You should be glad that your nine lives haven't run out yet."

Phoenix just sighed with a half smirk, "Deny it as much as you want, Edgeworth. I'm just that good."

"Indeed you are."

Miles looked particularly flush. _How much did he have to drink, anyways?_ Phoenix didn't keep count, but concluded that it was probably a bit too much. Strangely, Miles looked a bit more like his age when he was intoxicated. It was unfamiliar to see Edgeworth this relaxed, and without all the peculiar wrinkles that littered his brow from too much stress at the office- for this reason, Phoenix couldn't help but stare perpetually at the reddened face in front of him.

"I stand by what I told you those few years ago," Miles continued, still picking his words carefully, "I feel.. almost foolish for jumping onto a private jet and back here to L.A. for your sake. Though I do not regret it, my actions were almost as brash as when you decided to suddenly change career paths and become a lawyer."

"Haha.. Well, what can I say? I guess when I saw you, I was reminded of something," Phoenix brushed a hand through his unruly hair and shrugged, "you inspire me to protect the people I really care about."

Miles choked down his emotions as his mind raced to the DL-6 incident, but outwardly he looked unfazed.

"In retrospect, it would have been better had we not met," Miles reiterated from that time during the DL-6 appeal, "Thanks to you, I am saddled with unnecessary… feelings."

It was strange to hear his voice so unguarded, and Phoenix thought that maybe his friend's time away soul-searching in Europe actually did some good. The last time Phoenix had seen Edgeworth this open was after the man was given a Not Guilty verdict, and the only other time prior possibly being when they were children. He wondered if maybe those were now the only times Miles had ever felt at ease.. and maybe this was a good time to finally clear the air between them. It seemed like the man wanted to finally be direct. Then again, it could've just been the alcohol.

"Unnecessary feelings?"

"Unease, uncertainty, and an insatiable want for cock."

Phoenix's jaw dropped, "W-wait. What? What was that last one?"

"Uncertainty."

There was a pause. _Hold it! Is he saying.._

Impossible. It wasn't that he couldn't have supposed that Edgeworth liked men (_he wears pink for God's sake!) _Rather, what surprised Phoenix was how he so openly blurted the vulgarity. _Or was that a joke_? Phoenix also couldn't recall the last time the prosecutor made a joke that wasn't droll, but the silence finally broke as Wright came to his conclusion.

"Edgeworth, you're completely shattered."

Phoenix grabbed the other man's jacket off the chair for him, "so we're leaving. Give me your keys."

"You're not touching my car, Wright," as drunk as he was, his voice cut through like steel, but Phoenix simply rolled his eyes.

"I have my license too, you know. I just.." Miles gave him a skeptical glare and Phoenix rubbed his neck in embarrassment, "Okay you got me, I don't have my license yet, but it's not like I can't afford a car right now anyways. Though, it's kind of a cool thought; me driving a sports car and all- it probably feels classy, I can see why you'd want to keep it to yourself!"

Miles didn't retort as Phoenix chuckled. The two then promptly got up, paid, and started making their way to the exit. Miles staggered and was a fair bit wobblier than Phoenix, and when he had finally gotten to the door he realized how badly his head hurt whilst occasionally bumping against the other man.

"Wright, I-I don't feel good," Miles shivered.

"I wasn't keeping track of how many you had, but once we're outside in the fresh air you'll be better," Phoenix's tone was light but for a moment he wasn't so confident when he thought he almost had to hold Edgeworth steady as they stepped out into the cool night air. It was a brisk night, but it wasn't nearly as cold as it had been at Hazakura Temple merely hours back. Phoenix was thankful for that.

Edgeworth took a seat on the step, seeing as it seemed okay to block part of the entrance, and buried his head in his knees; there weren't many others around at this time of night- everyone was either asleep at home, or in the bar (which had its own designated smoking area.) It was quiet.

"I'll call a cab," Phoenix dug his hands into his pockets in search of his cellphone, "you, uh.. don't mind sharing one, do you? Gumshoe wanted me to make sure you're home okay.. and.. er, it'll cut costs." _God, he probably thinks I'm desperately poor now. _He felt a little pathetic admitting to his somewhat appalling financial situation, but wanted to make sure it was fine with Edgeworth before he dialed for the ride. Phoenix expected a shrug or nod from the prosecutor, but instead he got no reply.

"Uh, you don't have to," Phoenix added hurriedly, and he grinned to lighten spirits as he thought he might've offended Edgeworth, "it's just that detec-"

Suddenly Miles doubled over to the side and vomited, one hand clutching the fabric of his cravat to keep from dirtying himself, and the other unsuccessfully trying to cover his mouth after the deed was done. Phoenix quickly came to his aid but stopped dead when the prosecutor moved the fingers away from his lips, cursing.

"Shit, Edgeworth," Phoenix went white, "There's.. I-is that... _blood_?"


End file.
